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4
ما جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِرَجُلٍ مِن قَلبَينِ في جَوفِهِ ۚ وَما جَعَلَ أَزواجَكُمُ اللّائي تُظاهِرونَ مِنهُنَّ أُمَّهاتِكُم ۚ وَما جَعَلَ أَدعِياءَكُم أَبناءَكُم ۚ ذٰلِكُم قَولُكُم بِأَفواهِكُم ۖ وَاللَّهُ يَقولُ الحَقَّ وَهُوَ يَهدِي السَّبيلَ

Yusuf Ali

God has not made for any man two hearts1 in his (one) body: nor has He made your wives whom ye divorce by Ẓihār2 your mothers: nor has He made your adopted sons3 your sons. Such is (only) your (manner of) speech by your mouths. But God tells (you) the Truth, and He shows the (right) Way.
  • “Two hearts in his (one) breast”: two inconsistent attitudes: such as serving God and Mammon; or subscribing to both Truth and Superstition; or hypocritically pretending one thing and intending another. Such a thing is against God’s Law and Will. Apart from the condemnation of general hypocrisy, two pagan customs of the Times of Ignorance are mentioned, and their iniquity pointed out. See the next two notes. Nor can a man love two women with equal love; hence the injustice of marrying more than one wife; see the second clause in 4:3.
  • This was an evil Arab custom, by which the husband selfishly deprived his wife of her conjugal rights and yet kept her to himself like a slave without her being free to remarry. He pronounced words importing that she was like his mother. After that she could not demand conjugal rights but was not free from his control and could not contract another marriage. See also 58:1-5, where this is condemned in the strongest terms and punishment is promised for it. A man sometimes said such words in a fit of anger: they did not affect him, but they degraded her position.
  • If a man called another’s son “his son”, it might create complications with natural and normal relationships if taken too literally. It is pointed out that it is only a façon de parier in men’s mouths, and should not be taken literally. The truth is the truth and cannot be altered by men’s adopting “sons”. “Adoption” in the technical sense is not allowed in Muslim Law. Those who have been “wives of your sons proceeding from your loins” are within the Prohibited Degrees of marriage; 4:23; but this does not apply to “adopted” sons.